Subpoenas for deep-water drilling moratorium records on hold for two weeks

Washington -- Those subpoenas the House Natural Resources Committee approved Wednesday for documents related to an Interior Department report recommending a moratorium on deep-water drilling won't go out immediately, the panel's chairman said. Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., said he'll wait until after a two-week House Easter recess ends before sending them out.

Rep. Edward Markey, D- Mass., left, is the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, and Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., right, is the committee chairman.

"Sometimes actions like this will yield the department giving us the information," Hastings said.

At issue is a report issued by the Interior Department just weeks after the BP spill, suggesting the moratorium and reporting that the idea had been endorsed by a panel of experts. Soon thereafter, eight of the 15 experts said they had not endorsed the drilling stoppage. The Interior Department later edited the report to reflect the experts' concerns.

A review by Interior Department Inspector General Mary Kendall said the White House had edited the report in a way that made it seem the experts were backing the moratorium. It should have been "more clearly worded," Kendall said, though she found no intentional effort to mislead the public. But Hastings said it's important for the committee to find out whether the erroneous information was intentional and, if so, who was responsible.

The subpoenas also seek documents related to proposed coal regulations.

On Thursday, Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass. the top Democrat on the panel, asked Hastings to schedule hearings on three recent studies pointing to major ecological damage stemming from the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In a letter to committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), Markey requested that the authors of the studies appear to discuss how the nation's worst environmental disaster continues to plague the Gulf.

"While Republicans on the committee are still protecting the companies at fault for the spill, holding a hearing on the environmental damage scientists are discovering would be a valuable and respectful way to let the Gulf know that we have not abandoned them," Markey said. "This was BP's spill, but these are America's waters, and the people of the Gulf and the work of these scientists deserve to be heard."

Responding for Hastings was Natural Resources Committee spokesman Spencer Pederson: "One of the top focuses of the committee has been the impacts of the Deepwater Horizon disaster and President Obama's actions to shutdown and then slowdown drilling in the Gulf of Mexico - and this focus will continue. Numerous hearings have been held on the human impact on families and small businesses, as well as the impact on American energy production, Gulf fishing and seafood, and the environment."

"Chairman Hastings and committee members traveled to Gulf to hold a hearing in Houma to hear directly from local leaders and experts. That visit also included an inspection of the coastline and wildlife refuge. Regrettably, concern over the heavy toll that the president's anti-energy policies have taken on workers and Gulf communities is not shared equally by the Committee's top Democrat who appears more concerned about every species other than humans."